Runoff heats up
Early voting began Monday morning in one of the most contentious battles for elected office that Northeast Texas has seen in many years. The runoff election for Texas House District 1 between incumbent State Rep. Gary VanDeaver and Cass County businessman Chris Spencer. Texas House District 1 includes Bowie, Cass, Lamar, Morris and Red River Counties.
Gary VanDeaver has served the people of District 1 for the last 10 years as our state representative, and before that served as a longtime educator with a stint as the Superintendent of the New Boston Independent School District Chris Spencer owns and operates small businesses in Cass County, and was appointed by Governor Gregg Abbott in 2018 to serve as the director of the Sulphur River Basin Authority. He resigned that position to run in this election and has since been endorsed by Gov. Abbott.
In the March primary, Rep. VanDeaver received 45.5 percent of the vote to Spencer’s 43 percent. Neither of them receiving the required 50 percent forced the runoff that will come to an end on May 28.
During this runoff, residents of District 1 have been inundated with mailers sent out by the candidates and a varied host of political action committees, plus a steady stream of social media and television ads with the candidates going toe to toe on the issues that separate them.
The race came down to a showdown this past week as the two candidates squared off in a pair of debates where the issues of school vouchers, border defense, broadband internet access, and the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir.
After their debate in Lamar County early last week, the two faced off in a debate in Texarkana last Thursday night, with both using strong words against the other.
In their opening statements Thursday night, both candidates took the opportunity to address the proliferation of mailers and attack ads with incumbent Van-Deaver noting himself that “no doubt this has been the nastiest campaign that any of us can remember.”
The top issue in the campaign between the two candidates has been school vouchers. Vouchers, or what some call “school choice” has been a top priority of Gov. Abbott for some time. It is a highly contentious subject that District 1 residents have made clear would not be good for rural East Texas with school superintendents, civic leaders, and teachers all voicing their opposition.
Rep. VanDeaver spoke of his knowledge that if he voted against school vouchers, which he did, he would become a target of the governor. “The governor warned me if you vote against school vouchers I’m coming after you, and he has,” explained VanDeaver. He noted that the opposition has included out of state billionaires pumping millions of dollars into the race to fund his opposition.
When asked about oversight of the school voucher system if it ever passes the legislative process, both candidates agreed that there was still a lot of work to be done on how accountability would be addressed.
Spencer responded to the issue by saying, “The taxpayers, stakeholders and citizens of House District 1 support school choice with the funding following the child.” Spencer clarified by saying that he believed strongly in the public school system and would be happy for his kids to go to a public school, but that parents had the God-given right to select the school that is best for their child. He went on to say that he conducted his own polling which showed that the people of House District 1 support parental freedom in school choice and a pay raise for teachers, and that the two issues were not mutually exclusive.
Rep. VanDeaver responded by noting that he staunchly defends parental rights to choose where their children get their education, but “there is no God-given right for the State of Texas to pay for their choice.” Rep. VanDeaver stated that after its initial year, the school voucher program would cost the state upwards of 11 billion dollars a year.
The candidates also spoke of the proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir, with both declaring that they were now and had been opposed to the lake’s construction for years.
Spencer stated that his sworn to stop Marvin Nichols, and was totally against it’s development but that he could not promise that it would not eventually happen.
Rep. VanDeaver also noted that he had a proven track record for opposition to the reservoir, and when on to say that while he believes his opponent is against the lake, Gov. Abbott is for its construction and that it would be the governor who would be making the calls in District 1 if Spencer was elected.
The two candidates also took questions on the state’s decision not to participate in a federal program to feed kids during the summer, the state’s power grid, and meeting the needs of the state’s low income families.
When asked about the state’s power grid, both candidates drew attention to the need to strengthen the state’s power needs. Spencer noted that one of Gov. Abbott’s chief priorities is to strengthen the grid, and that renewable energy sources are not sufficient to do so. Spencer called for a strengthening in the areas of oil, gas and nuclear production, and the use of the state’s “rainy day” fund to bolster the grid and protect the state from a repeat of its failure during the unprecedented cold of January and February 2022.
Rep. VanDeaver noted that he had worked on legislation to strengthen the grid and that it was his belief that there was a need to require power companies to winterize production facilities to protect them from failing in a repeat of that 2022 “snowmageddon.”
When asked about the state’s decision to pass on the summer program to feed kids out of school, both directed the blame on the state agency that would have overseen the program, with Rep. VanDeaver noting that the agency passed on the funding because it did not have the manpower or the computer systems to handle the need.
Early voting is now underway and will continue through this Friday, May 24. Votes can then be cast on Tuesday, May 28, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.